A plane that was stopped due to “human trafficking” and carrying 303 Indians is about to depart from France airport

A charter aircraft that was detained while transporting 303 Indians to Nicaragua was given permission to depart the French airport on Sunday after being shut down for four days in order to conduct a human trafficking investigation.

Many of the trapped passengers will be returned to India on Monday, according to an airline lawyer. Regional prosecutor Annick Browne told The Associated Press that local officials were working through Christmas Eve on procedures to enable some passengers to exit the tiny Vatry Airport in the Champagne area.

Since Thursday, all of the travelers—including a toddler who was 21 months old—had been stranded at the airport terminal. As part of a specific French investigation into possible organized crime involvement in human trafficking, two passengers were placed under arrest. The local government said that many others applied for refuge in France. Eleven of the passengers, according to the prosecution, were unaccompanied children receiving special administrative treatment.

The Legend Airlines A340 airliner was halted by authorities on Thursday after it made a stop in Vatry, United Arab Emirates, for refueling while on its way to Managua, Nicaragua. The police action was prompted by an anonymous tip that suggested the plane may be transporting victims of human trafficking.

After being commandeered by police for several days, the airport was transformed into a temporary courthouse on Sunday. Judges, attorneys, and interpreters crowded the terminal to conduct urgent hearings to decide whether to continue the Indians’ seclusion.

A disagreement about the process used to bar the Indians from entering the airport caused the proceedings to stop in the middle, and the prosecutor said on Sunday that a decision on the next course of action was anticipated overnight. According to a statement from the Marne administration, the airliner’s seizure order was withdrawn on Sunday morning, which “makes it possible to contemplate the passengers in the waiting area being rerouted.”

The prefecture said that the French Civil Aviation Authority subsequently started working to get the required authorization for the aircraft to take off again, with the goal of having them in place “no later than Monday morning.” Attorney Liliana Bakayoko of Legend Airlines told the Associated Press that the business believed the aircraft may arrive in Mumbai, India, on Monday “with as many passengers as possible.”

She calculated that around 280 people ought to be allowed to go. A precise sum could not be confirmed by the regional government or the prosecutor.

In addition to providing regular meals and showers for those detained at the airport, volunteers, medical professionals, and local authorities set up cots. However, attorneys objected to the way the authorities handled the peculiar scenario as a whole throughout Sunday’s sessions.

“I’m shocked by what transpired in the waiting room. “It is evident that people were not informed of their rights,” said Francois Procureur, the president of the Châlons-en-Champagne Bar Association, to BFM television. “Unprecedented,” he said of the hurried, packed hearings at the airport.

In France, foreign nationals may be detained for up to four days while police conduct investigations; beyond that, a special judge will have to decide whether to prolong the detention period for an additional eight days. The nature of the alleged trafficking and if the passengers’ final destination was the United States, which has witnessed an increase of Indians crossing the Mexico–U.S. border this year, were not disclosed by the prosecutors.

After being questioned, the 15 crew members were freed on Saturday, according to Bakayoko. The airline, she added, denied any involvement in any potential human trafficking. According to Bakayoko, the “partner” business that chartered the aircraft was in charge of confirming each passenger’s identity credentials and providing the airline with their passport information 48 hours before to takeoff.

Nicaragua is one of the nations that the US government has identified as not meeting the requirements necessary to end human trafficking. Because other countries have low or no entrance criteria requiring a visa, Nicaragua has also been used as a migratory springboard for persons escaping poverty or violence. On occasion, the trip is made using charter planes.

During the U.S. government’s fiscal year that concluded on September 30, Indian residents were detained 41,770 times for unlawfully entering the country from Mexico. This number more than doubled from 18,308 the previous year.